Primitive Archer

Main Discussion Area => Bows => Topic started by: Gordon on March 07, 2010, 01:20:05 am

Title: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Gordon on March 07, 2010, 01:20:05 am
This bow is the mate to the Boo backed Ipe I posted last week. Nicole’s bow is made from a hazelnut stave that was about 2” in diameter. It’s 63.5” ntn and pulls 35# @ 26”. Limb width is 1 5/8” tapering to 7/16” at the tips and the limbs are asymetrical. The wood is stained using a Mahogany leather dye and finished with Tru-Oil. The tip overlays are cocobolo, handle is elk hide dyed black, and the bow’s mass is 13.4 oz. The tips were flipped up slightly using heat. I usually heat treat the belly of hazelnut, but I didn’t this time as I wanted to see how much set I would get if I used Steve’s no-set method of tillering without help from belly tempering.  The limbs took about an inch of set which I thought was a decent result. One thing that I was surprised to learn is that it is not necessary to exercise the limbs much between wood removals.  If done in excess it will crush the belly wood and result in set. Here are some pictures:

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0040.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0013.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0011.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0034.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_002.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0026.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0019.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0028.jpg)

(http://mysite.verizon.net/res0oeio//Nicole/NicolesBow_0022.jpg)
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: El Destructo on March 07, 2010, 01:22:43 am
                                  Another Great Bow Gordon....but I gotta Ask..........wheres the Hat.......... ???
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: RG on March 07, 2010, 01:28:33 am
Great job Gordon Looks like a real shooter

Ron
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: riarcher on March 07, 2010, 01:29:58 am
WOW!  That is sweet!
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: medicinewheel on March 07, 2010, 03:41:30 am
Great bow, really like the overall appearance; tiller, flipped tips, finish work...
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Keenan on March 07, 2010, 04:14:43 am
 Gordon your bows are such a treat to see and each one is a work of art.  Very nice colors and perfect match to go with Jeb's bow. I'm sure Nicole will love it. Tiller perfect as always.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: bowkee on March 07, 2010, 06:37:10 am
Gordon, I'm always impressed by your works, what an inspiration.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: stringstretcher on March 07, 2010, 08:06:04 am
Great bow, and would love to hear the "Steve's method of tiller" and what it is????
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: DanaM on March 07, 2010, 08:23:28 am
Looks great Gordon, Nicole should be very pleased :)
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Cooper on March 07, 2010, 08:43:56 am
And again a very elegant bow -  I suppose she will love it  :)
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Grunt on March 07, 2010, 09:06:30 am
Very nice bow. Good to see a small game bow built with a fairly light draw weight. Good attention to detail.  Thanks for the eye candy.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: George Tsoukalas on March 07, 2010, 09:36:58 am
It's a beautiful bow, Gordon. Very well done. Jawge
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Timo on March 07, 2010, 10:02:41 am
Very nice Gordon! full draw is beauty love those pics on the garden fence, and I can tell you don't look to be in much "strain" with that one ;)

I never exercise the limbs much between wood removal,but I do leave it braced a good long time in between. I think it helps keep the wood settled / balanced after wood is removed. Less volatile to the wood.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: barebo on March 07, 2010, 10:15:59 am
Your finish work is always extraordinary Gordon!!! When you're building , do you take care to not leave tooling marks that will require a lot of sanding ?? Is there a lot of hand sanding involved to get your smooth surfaces ?? I always seem to have a few marks left in my finished product.  That is the same leather dye that I used on a Maple longbow, and it really made the grain "pop".
As with all of your bows, the craftsmanship is Top Notch !!!
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: sailordad on March 07, 2010, 10:35:22 am
Gordon, another beautiful bow.
you definatly have that hazelnut figured out and mastered
colors are superb,tiller spot on.which is something weve grown to expect from your bows.
your work is always astonishing
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Lombard on March 07, 2010, 11:11:30 am
That is a beauty sir, you have mastered the craft.

String Stretcher, in the read only forum at this link, you will find your answer, http://www.primitivearcher.com/smf/index.php/topic,17294.0.html
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: HatchA on March 07, 2010, 12:13:09 pm
Can't say anything that's not already been said... 

That is a beautiful bow!  The lines/limb geometry are incredible.  The tiller braced and drawn is spectacular.

I think I know just what you mean when you talk about "over exercising the limbs" between stock removal - think I did that with my first bow and it ended up too light.

I've seen some pic's of bowyers scraping wood while the bow is braced.  How many bowyers here use this method in large amounts when working on final tiller?
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Gordon on March 07, 2010, 12:40:52 pm
Thank you for the compliment Mike. I decided to give the hat a day off.

Thank you Ron. She's a sweetheart to shoot. I think Nicole will like it.

Thank you riarcher.

Thank you Frank. It is always good to hear from you.

Keenan, you are much too kind. I do hope Jeb and Nicole are pleased with their bows.

Thank you bowkee.

Thank you Charles. The "no set" method of tillering is described by Steve Gardner in the Traditional Bowyers Bible Volume 4.
You can also find a description in the link that Lombard provided above.

Thank you Dana - I hope so.

Thank you for the compliment Cooper.
 
Thank you Roger. I enjoyed looking at your gallery of work. You are one very talented artist!

Thank you George - that means a lot coming from you.

Thank you Tim. I used to think you had to exercise the limbs a good deal to register the wood removal. I'm not so sure about that after using Steve's method.I still run all my bows through a stress test after they are tillered and that includes long periods of being braced.

Thank you for your kind words barebo. I am quite particular about the finish on my bows. I suppose I got that from my father who was a master cabinet maker and would never settle for anything less than perfection. I’m not as obsessive as he was, but something rubbed off. Achieving a nice finish does not require as much work as it may seem. What is required is a bit of discipline and attention to detail. I remove all readily visible tool marks by the time the bow is first braced. The bow is completely sanded to 100 grit by the time it is within 2 inches of final draw length. At 1 inch I take the bow outside and in natural light inspect it carefully for any minute tool marks. After removing these, I sand to 150 grit. When I hit weight, I take it outside one more time to remove any tool marks from the sides or belly that may have been introduced during the final stages of tillering. Then I sand to 220 grit, stain, sand again, stain again, rub, and then apply the finish. One more thing, small tool marks are best removed with a good scraper – I use a sharp knife.

Thank you for the nice compliment sailordad.

Thank you Lombard, and thanks for finding that link.

Thank you Hatch. I’ll often scrape the belly while the bow is braced in the final stages of tillering when I am making fairly small alterations.


Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Rich Saffold on March 07, 2010, 01:02:20 pm
Looks great Gordon.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: OldBow on March 07, 2010, 01:40:15 pm
                                  Another Great Bow Gordon....but I gotta Ask..........wheres the Hat.......... ???
That's a Bow of the Month Winner Hat. Gordon's got a bunch of them.
Got this fine weapon bookmarked for March Self Bows, too.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: El Destructo on March 07, 2010, 01:42:54 pm
I know what it is Don.... ::)....I was just ribbing Him about not wearing His Pretty Boy Floyd ...Gangsta Hat........ >:D
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: mullet on March 07, 2010, 06:24:09 pm
 That's pretty Gordon, I've made one from Hazelnut, I wish we had it here.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: cowboy on March 07, 2010, 06:49:54 pm
Another beauty Gordon! I like the cap, they feel good on your head don't they ;D. You aughta try shooting an arrow at the bullseye, quick draw the sidearm and put a hole in the bullseye right before the arrow hits it.... now that'd be a trick ::).
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Blacktail on March 07, 2010, 07:07:15 pm
WOW,i really like it...great art work there...the funny thing is that...i haven't see you wear a baseball cap...looks mighty fine on you..john
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: barebo on March 07, 2010, 07:41:17 pm
Gordon; Thank you for sharing the finishing sequence - I think that just a wee bit of the master craftsman has rubbed off indeed!!!
I always tried to impart in my children that anything worth doing is done well, no matter the task. I actually have come to the mindset that if there are some tool marks, it's an indication that it is truly a "handmade" bow. Upon seeing your and other examples, I may practice what I've preached, and spend some more time making a bow with higher standards. The time spent to go the extra mile really shows in the finished product. Thanks for the inspiration!!!
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Gordon on March 08, 2010, 02:24:14 am
Thank you Rich.

Thank you Don. I do enjoy wearing the hat.

That ain't no gansta hat Mike, it's a Tyrolean hat.

Thank you Eddie. Hazelnut is pretty common, but you probably won’t find it in Florida.

Thank you Paul. That would certainly be quite a trick, but it will be a long time before I can pull something like that off with a handgun – I shoot a bow much better.

Thank you for the compliment John.

Barebo, I agree completely that anything worth doing should be done well. And you don’t really need tool marks to know that something is hand-made – there are plenty of other clues.

Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Pappy on March 08, 2010, 07:32:19 am
Beautiful bow Gordon,Tiller and tips are sweet and I love the color,very nice work. :)
   Pappy
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Okie on March 08, 2010, 09:46:54 am
'nother beauty Gordon. Well done.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Mark Anderson on March 08, 2010, 02:04:05 pm
Absolutely stunning, graceful and looks to be a sweet shooter. I love the color too.
Mark
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: Gordon on March 09, 2010, 02:03:40 am
Thank you for the nice words Pappy.

Thank you Okie.

Thank you Mark. I like a darker colored bow myself.
Title: Re: Nicole's Bow
Post by: VenomBOWslinger on March 09, 2010, 03:08:18 am
Nice looking Bow Gordon real fine finish work too!!!

Russ